Dancing in the Moonlight
by The Young Lady of Legends
Summary: Short story stand alone: Usagi and Mamoru running away from home. PG-13 for mention of parental abuse.


Alright, I've always wanted to do one of these, I just never really had a good idea for one, but now I think this one's okay... A short story stand alone. One chapter, are you ready? Let's go!

Please Review as always!

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Dancing in the Moonlight

Written by: Moon Sugar

I lay there, absolutely terrified, wondering if Mamoru was ever going to show up. The leather covered seats were beginning to make me cold and I was doubting if he was ever going to come. I fumbled for the button on my watch that would make the face illuminate, so the time would be clear. 12:19... That told me only one thing.

Mamoru was about twenty minutes late. 

I began to worry. I knew Mamoru was always one for punctuality. It was he, that was forever telling me to learn that when I say I'm going to arrive, that I should be there _early_, and at the very least, get there when I said I was going to. 

I'll never understand those kinds of manners. It was hard enough to keep myself from eating like I'd like to. Who really cares what spoon goes with what, and which fork goes with what, and what's there just for decoration. I'd been raised in an upper-class home all my life, and personally, I was sick of people telling me what I should say, what I should wear, and what I eat. I've dreamed of a normal life for the entirety for mine.

I heard a light knocking at the window beside me and it made me jump. I unlocked the car door and opened it for Mamoru. His eyes were aglow and I knew that they were glowing with something he'd dreamed of his entire life. _Freedom._

He slid in the car and sat close to me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, I suppose to keep me warm. Or maybe he just wanted to be near me as much as I needed to be near him. I buried my face in his chest and breathed deep. I was finally free!

"Do you have your stuff?" he whispered. 

"Yeah, it's all in the front seat." I said as he put his belongings in the front with mine. I say belongings, but what I mean is just a few things of his and mine that we'll need. We weren't going back. 

I hated to use the word 'runaway,' because that sounded like something punk kids do. We were leaving to get away, him more than me. I saw the faint trace of a bruise still on his cheek. I reached up and lightly, gently, kissed it. "Love you..."

He held me closer. "Oh Usako, I'm just so happy." he sounded it, too. His voice seemed light as a feather, free from all burdens. "We can finally be together." he whispered in my ear.

We should have known that his dad would hate me. I showed Mamoru light, when he was living in total chaos. I told him of all the things he was missing out on. The most important being his life. True, his dad could stop him from doing a lot of things using his fist, that he constantly uses. But he couldn't keep Mamoru from loving. He loved me...

And took many beatings for it. His dad probably would have found other things that made him think that Mamoru deserved such treatment, but his favorite was 'that little rich tramp' otherwise known as Tsukino, Usagi. 

Mamoru was always the gentleman. Never once, did he raise his voice to his father, and more miraculously, he never raised his fist in anger, the way his father had done for Mamoru's whole life. 

Mamoru often dreamed of his mother. Longed for her...Maybe her death was what sent Mr. Chiba over the edge. She had died in childbirth, and it was always my growing suspicion that he blamed Mamoru for this. Thus, the abuse. 

Oddly enough, Mamoru had turned out normal, in fact probably better than most guys. He was a genius, athletic, etc... but what shocked me the most, was that he can be so sensitive, growing up under a father-figure like that. I say father-figure. I never really have called him Mamoru's father...it didn't seem right. He wasn't the type of father most boys have, taking them to ballgames, teaching them to drive. No, Mamoru never had the luxury of parents. Though sometimes, I curse the fact that I do.

My parents, never liked Mamoru, for the sole fact that he wasn't rich. They never said that, but that's what they meant. They knew it as well as I did. Oh, they had their excuses, but none of us fell for them. Not even once. 

It was a week before when Mamoru's father told him that he wouldn't be attending college, when we decided to leave this wretched place together. Imagine, class valedictorian not going to college! Especially when his dad wouldn't have had to pay a cent! He didn't want him to leave because then, he wouldn't have the power of anyone. His whole life, he'd controlled Mamoru, made him bend to his will and if he left, there would be no one to boss around. As we could all plainly see, he didn't have power over himself. He was crazy...

So here we were sitting in the garage of Minako. Her mom was out of town so we knew it would be a safe haven before we could catch the bus out of town. We were getting as far from this place as we could. 

I felt his fingers running through my hair, and sighed so as to let him know I was still awake, but just barely. "Together forever, Usako." he whispered.

"Together forever, Mamo-chan."


End file.
